Murder accused claimed to be Jesus and told ex's mother he cured her cancer, trial hears

Fiona Magennis

The former girlfriend of a man who admits killing but denies murdering his mother has told a jury that the 29-year-old previously claimed to be Jesus and told her mother he had cured her cancer.

Stacey Campbell also told the Central Criminal Court on Friday that the accused man, Luke Donnelly’s, drug use was “a big worry” for her and that his mental health had deteriorated as a result.

Ms Campbell said Mr Donnelly called to her home in Drogheda on the morning before his mother was found dead. She said that when the deceased, who was staying with her at the time, answered the door, he told her: “I’m Jesus Christ, just let me in.”

Ms Campbell said she immediately contacted gardaí as she was concerned his mental health was deteriorating and wanted him to be “lifted” so he could receive help.

Mr Donnelly, of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Catherine Henry (62) at her apartment on Bridge Street in Dundalk, Co Louth, on a date unknown between May 23rd and 24th, 2023.

Stacey Campbell today told prosecuting counsel Garret Baker SC that she had known Catherine Henry for approximately 10 years because she had been in a relationship with the deceased’s son, Luke Donnelly, and they had a child together.

Ms Campbell said she had a “really great” relationship with Ms Henry and they had been “very, very close”.

“She was like a mother to me,” Ms Campbell said.

She told the court that she and Mr Donnelly were together for six years and had an on-and-off relationship for a further three years. Ms Campbell, who lives in Cedarfield, Drogheda, said Ms Henry regularly stayed with her and her son.

Ms Henry stayed with her on Monday, May 22nd, 2023, and was “in good form,” the witness said.

Asked about Mr Donnelly’s behaviour at the time, Ms Campbell said he “wasn’t in a right state of mind for a long, long time”.

“He was just not the same person. It was like he was losing his mind as the weeks went on,” said Ms Campbell. “He was saying he was Jesus.”

Ms Campbell said her own mother and Ms Henry had cancer and Mr Donnelly told both women he had cured them.

Ms Campbell said that in November 2022 Mr Donnelly went missing for three days and it subsequently transpired he had climbed Croagh Patrick barefoot. She also confirmed she was aware that he intended to move to Liverpool.

She told the court that in the early hours of Tuesday, May 23rd, Mr Donnelly rang her phone repeatedly, telling her to wake his mother.

“He was saying he was Jesus, that he was the only one who could protect us,” she said. “I told him not to come and to stay where he was.”

She said Mr Donnelly arrived at her house at 7am. Ms Henry opened the door after hearing knocking, and the accused pushed his way into the hallway.

Ms Henry asked him to leave, and he did.

“Luke wasn’t angry, he was very calm,” Ms Campbell said. “He really believed he was Jesus.”

The witness said she immediately called the guards, but they arrived about an hour later.

She said she last saw Ms Henry at about 8.20am that morning when they left the house together. Ms Henry planned to get a bus back to Dundalk but Ms Campbell said she learned of her death some time after 8pm on May 24th.

The witness said Ms Henry had a good relationship with her son. She said they “had fallings out, like anyone” would but told counsel they loved each other.

She agreed with Mr Baker that Catherine and Mr Donnelly had fallen out for about a year but were back on good terms following the incident at Croke Patrick in November 2022.

In cross-examination, Ms Campbell told Conall MacCarthy SC, defending, that Mr Donnelly would “do anything” for his mother and said she was deeply concerned about his drug use, which she described as “a big worry”.

“His health got worse when he was taking drugs,” she said. “It just got worse and worse.”

In re-examination, Ms Campbell said she believed Mr Donnelly was on drugs when he came to her home that morning, though she could not be certain because “he was acting strange anyway”.

She told the court that when she later messaged him asking where his mother was, he replied that he did not know and that he wasn’t talking to her.

Liam Reed told Mr Baker that at around 7:20pm on May 24th he was asked to check on Ms Henry's welfare. He said a neighbour let him in and the door to Ms Henry’s apartment was open. In the bedroom, he saw “a person lying on the ground”.

He called 999 and the woman on the line asked him to try to locate a pulse but he couldn’t find one. The witness confirmed he told gardaí that he felt her body and “it was stone cold”.

Advanced paramedic Martin Quigley told Mr Baker he arrived at the scene at 8:33pm and saw a woman lying prone on the ground on her face with “congealed blood either side of her head”.

He said the woman’s hair was also matted with blood.

Mr Quigley said there seemed to be a blood stain on the back of the woman’s jumper, but he later realised this was a footprint. He said emergency services identified a further footprint closer to the door.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott asked the jury to return at 2pm on Monday to resume hearing evidence.